cancer metabolism   |   agios drug discovery   |    scientific discoveries

cancer metabolism

a new approach to targeting cancer cells’ fundamental survival mechanisms

Decades of research have shown that cancer cells mutate to develop literally hundreds, even thousands, of highly complex mechanisms to ensure their survival and growth. In recent years, much of the focus of cancer research has been on oncogene and tumor suppressor genes.

New research by Agios founders has led to breakthrough discoveries in understanding that the function of many oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes is actually to modulate the metabolic functioning of cancer cells. As a result, the intersection of these two fields of research — cancer and metabolism — represents an important and novel approach to treating cancer.